When jetting a fluid onto a heated surface it is highly desirable for 100% of the fluid to vaporize so that liquid is not discharged from the vaporizing device. The problem lies in that the vaporizing heater must be small enough to heat up extremely quickly, but yet have enough surface area to catch all fluid and fluid droplets that is being ejected onto it. In a conventional vaporizing device, a fluid wick would be used that would be disposed in a fluid reservoir on one end thereof while touching a heater on a distal end thereof to vaporize fluid wicked from the fluid reservoir. The wick method has no control of how much fluid is vaporized. Thus the amount of fluid vaporized may vary with the amount of negative pressure applied to the vaporizing device. If a conventional heater configuration for vaporizing fluids is used for providing a jetted fluid, the entire wick is heated to the high temperature. Heating the entire wick requires a large amount of energy and may result in degradation of the wick over time.
Another problem with conventional vaporizing devices is that a standard back pressure range is preferred in vaporizing devices to prevent liquid from drooling from the ejection head. A back pressure of about 7 to about 12 kilonewtons per square meter is desirable. However, if a conventional jetting device for the fluid is exposed to a negative pressure the ejection head will begin to drool and not accurately jet fluid therefrom. Accordingly, what is needed is a fluid vaporizing assembly that provides a sufficient back-pressure for vapor applications yet provides a controlled amount of liquid to be vaporized.
In view of the foregoing, one embodiment of the disclosure provides a heater assembly for a vaporizing device, a vaporizing device containing the heater assembly, and a method for vaporizing fluid ejected by an ejection head. The heater assembly for the vaporizing device includes a vapor inlet end and a vapor outlet end, positive and negative electrodes for contact with positive and negative heater terminals on a vaporizing heater, an insulator for electrical insulation between the positive and negative heater terminals, and a wick disposed between the insulator and the vaporizing heater for dispersion of liquid to be vaporized by the vaporizing heater and for back pressure control of the vaporizing device.
Another embodiment of the disclosure provides a vaporizing device that includes a housing body, a mouthpiece attached to the housing body, a heater assembly disposed in the mouthpiece for vaporizing fluid ejected from an ejection head, and a removable fluid ejection assembly attached to the mouthpiece. The fluid ejection assembly includes a fluid container in flow communication with the ejection head. The heater assembly includes a heater element having a fluid collection side and a second side opposite the fluid collection side, and a porous wick adjacent the second side of the heater element.
A further embodiment of the disclosure provides a method for vaporizing a fluid ejected by an ejection head so that substantially all of the fluid ejected by the ejection head is vaporized. The method includes providing a mouthpiece for sucking in vapors generated by a foraminous vaporizing heater, disposing a porous wick adjacent to the vaporizing heater in the mouthpiece, wherein the wick is disposed on a side of the vaporizing heater opposite a side of the vaporizing heater that faces the ejection head so that the wick is heated by the vaporizing heater and collects and vaporizes any fluid passing through the foraminous vaporizing heater.
In some embodiments, the mouthpiece has a cavity therein for the heater assembly, a vapor outlet port disposed adjacent to the vapor outlet end of the heater assembly and one or more air intake ports disposed adjacent to the vapor inlet end of the heater assembly wherein ambient air is drawn through the vaporizing heater and the wick.
In another embodiment, a support housing is attached to the mouthpiece. The support housing includes a fluid reservoir, an ejection head, and logic control for metering the amount of fluid jetted to the vaporizing heater and for activating the vaporizing heater.
In yet another embodiment, there is a provided a vaporizing device housing for containing the support housing, power circuitry, and a power source for the vaporizing device.
In some embodiments, the wick is a resilient, porous material selected from ceramic, sintered metal, metal/ceramic composite materials, wire mesh, steel wool, fiberglass, and the like. The wick is selected to provide a predetermined negative pressure for the vaporizing device.
In some embodiments, the porous wick is disposed between the heater element and an insulator for heater terminals of the heater element.
In some embodiments, the fluid container is a removable fluid container and ejection head assembly.
In some embodiments, the housing body of the vaporizing device includes a power switch, a vapor activation button, and a USB port.
In some embodiments, an amount of negative pressure adjacent the ejection head is reduced by providing air intake ports in the mouthpiece to provide air flow between the ejection head and the vaporizing heater.